


Salamander Matters

by mermaidchan05



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Does a room on top of a shop count as domestic fluff?, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Stove Salamander - Freeform, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26998981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermaidchan05/pseuds/mermaidchan05
Summary: Some good old Stove Salamander content that I've had lying around for a while.Featuring my apprentice Meleia, Asra, Faust, and Meleia's familiar Forge, the fennec fox!  And, of course, starring our favorite salamander.
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Asra (The Arcana)/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 13





	Salamander Matters

“Hey, buddy. What’s wrong?” 

Meleia blearily opened her eyes. Apparently, Asra had woken up before her. And he was talking to… someone. Faust, maybe?

There was a little skittering sound. And Asra spoke up again. 

“Come on,” he coaxed. “It’s okay. You can come out.” 

There was another little noise. And Meleia smelled a bit of smoke. That woke her up pretty quickly. She sat up… and instantly realized that Asra couldn’t possibly be talking to Faust. Faust was currently curled up on top of her. The poor snake fell directly into her lap. Faust opened her eyes, giving Meleia a slightly reproachful look.

“Sorry, Faust,” said Meleia, gently petting the snake’s head. 

_No worry,_ said Faust. 

Meleia untangled herself from the covers, moving much more slowly and carefully this time. She looked around, checking for her own familiar. Forge was still curled up in his basket at the edge of the bed, sound asleep. His enormous fox ears were twitching a bit, but more because he was dreaming than anything else. Clearly, he didn’t sense anything wrong. 

“Aw, please?” said Asra, apparently unaware that Meleia had woken up. “I’m sorry about… whatever’s going on. Won’t you let me help?” 

There was another distinct puff of smoke. And this time a few bright orange sparks were mixed in.

Ah. So Asra was talking to the stove salamander. And it didn’t seem like the salamander was particularly happy. Meleia swung her legs over the edge of the bed. 

“Asra?” she called. “What’s wrong?”

Asra shot her a quick smile. “Good morning. It seems our friend is in a sour mood. I’m not sure what’s happened, but…” 

“Can I help?” Meleia offered.

“You can certainly try,” said Asra, looking rather defeated.

The stove salamander made his opinion clear with another puff of smoke. 

Meleia padded over to the stove, squeezing next to Asra. The grate was open, revealing the salamander sitting on his wood pile. The salamander gave them both a look that was distinctly put out. 

“Hey, little guy,” said Meleia softly. “Is something wrong?” 

The salamander made a little grumbling noise. He circled around the wood pile like a dog. Then he sneezed, tiny little sparks flying from his nose. 

Meleia pulled back and gave Asra a pointed look. 

“You forgot to clean the grate out again, didn’t you?” she sighed.

Asra flushed. “Well…”

Meleia shook her head. “Asra, you know dust makes him sneeze. And it was your turn! This is the third time this month!” 

“I know, I know,” Asra sighed. “I’m sorry.” 

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” said Meleia with a slight smirk.

Asra sighed again. He turned back to the stove salamander, crouching down a bit so he was at the little critter’s level. The salamander still looked offended. He scooted backwards and ducked behind a piece of wood. 

“I’m so sorry, salamander,” said Asra, genuinely. “I promise, I won’t forget to dust your wood pile ever again.” 

The salamander huffed a bit. He’d heard that one before. They all had. 

“We can clean it out for you now,” Meleia offered. 

She grabbed the teapot and opened up the lid. She put the pot right next to the grate, inviting the salamander inside. But the salamander let out another little grumble, and just hid further back. 

“Oh, poor little thing,” said Meleia. “What’s wrong?” 

The salamander scurried underneath a piece of wood. He poked his head out and flicked his tongue in Asra’s general direction. 

“I know I’m not the most reliable person when it comes to cleaning things up,” said Asra, awkwardly ruffling his hair. “But I really mean it. I won’t forget. I’ll write myself a dozen notes if I have to.” 

The salamander poked his head out a bit, looking up at Asra. 

“And when he _does_ forget, I’ll make sure to take care of it myself,” said Meleia, giggling. 

The salamander made a noise that was close to a purr. 

“You know we can always count on Meleia,” said Asra. 

He chuckled fondly. Meleia flushed a bit. He always had a way of making her feel simultaneously embarrassed and very happy. 

“Are you feeling any better now?” Asra asked the salamander. “Ready to help us with some tea?”

The salamander made another soft, rumbly sort of sound. He seemed somewhat more content, but something was still amiss. 

“That doesn’t sound good,” said Meleia. “Do you think he’s sick?”

“Not sure,” Asra admitted. “He’s never acted like this before…. Faust?” 

Faust popped her head up. _Me?_

“Do you think you can ask the salamander what’s wrong?” Asra asked. 

_Ask,_ Faust agreed. 

She slithered to the edge of the bed. Asra picked her up and carried her over to the stove. She stuck her head right into the grate, which made Meleia flinch. In that moment, Meleia was very thankful that the salamander actually hadn’t lit the fire yet. Faust stared right into the salamander’s eyes. The salamander stared back. Neither Asra nor Meleia could hear or sense anything, but the two magical reptiles seemed to be having a very in-depth silent conversation. 

At last, Faust pulled away and looked up at Asra. 

_Name,_ she said.

Asra blinked. “What do you mean?” 

_Wants name,_ Faust pressed. 

“Asra,” Meleia said slowly, “I think the stove salamander wants us to name him.” 

Asra’s eyes widened. “Really? Huh…”

“It makes sense,” said Meleia. “Actually, I can’t believe we never thought about it before… I’ve just been calling him stove salamander because _you_ have.”

“And I called him that because your aunt always did,” said Asra slowly. He turned back to the salamander. “Looks like I have to apologize again. I never thought you wanted a name.” 

The salamander grumbled a bit, but he looked a little happier. 

“We have to pick the perfect name,” said Meleia. She smiled at the salamander. “To make it up to you.” 

The salamander flicked his tongue out at her. 

Meleia’s smile widened. Then she straightened up a bit, thinking. “Let’s see… something fiery, I think.”

“What about Pepper?” Asra suggested. 

The salamander flicked his tongue out again, though this time it was like blowing a raspberry.

“Really?” Meleia laughed. “What does _pepper_ have to do with fire?”

“What?” said Asra, not remotely ashamed. “Peppers are spicy.” 

Meleia shook her head, her expression caught somewhere between fondness and exasperation. Gods, Asra was such an idiot sometimes. But he was definitely _her_ idiot. 

_No like,_ said Faust. 

“Alright, I get it,” Asra chuckled. “Do you have any ideas, Faust?” 

_Smoky friend!_ said Faust. 

The salamander tilted his head, confused.

“I think he’ll be happy if _you_ call him that,” Asra laughed. “But I don’t know if it would be quite the same coming from us.” 

Faust sank a bit. Asra gave her some chin scritches. 

“Don’t worry,” he assured her. “We’ll find the perfect fit. And you can keep calling him smoky friend. He likes it.” 

The salamander rumbled his approval. 

“Your turn, Meleia,” said Asra. He smiled encouragingly up at her. 

“Alright…” said Meleia slowly. “Well, we could name him after the character from that book Aisha and Salim gave me. It was Prince Anshul… means sunbeam.” 

The salamander tilted his head again, looking very confused. 

“Okay, not that one, then,” said Meleia. 

“I like the sunbeam idea,” said Asra. “How about something like… The Great Lord Sol Magnus, Embodiment of Flame?” 

The salamander’s opinion was very clear on that. Even without Faust’s little _Nope!_

“I think it’ll take way too long to talk to him if we do that,” Meleia laughed. “What about just Sun? Or Sunny?” 

The salamander wagged his tail. 

_Cute!_ Faust translated.

“So he likes it?” Asra asked.

Faust twisted her head upside-down. _No. Want cute name._

“Something cute…” Meleia mused. “Well, Sunny works…” 

There was a tiny little growl. And the salamander instantly looked sheepish. He tried to hide underneath the wood pile. Naturally, his tail stuck out, making him very visible. 

_Hungry,_ said Faust, looking at the salamander. 

“Of course,” said Meleia. “It must be past breakfast, and he still hasn’t gotten started on the wood pile.” 

She went over to the shelf and picked up the little jar of wood chips they kept as salamander treats. She returned to the grate and held one of them out, trying to coax the salamander out of his hiding place. He poked his little glowing nose out, sniffing eagerly. 

“He really loves those wood chips, doesn’t he?” Asra chuckled fondly. 

_Tasty chip,_ Faust confirmed.

The salamander wagged his tail. He gently took the wood chip out of Meleia’s hand and nibbled it. 

“He really does,” said Meleia. Then, suddenly, she grinned. “Hey… why don’t we call him Chip?” 

The salamander chirped happily. His tail wagged even faster. 

“I think he likes it,” said Asra. 

_Good name!_ Faust confirmed, her own tail flicking a bit. 

“You really like it?” Meleia asked. “Chip?” 

Another happy chirp. 

“That settles it, then,” Asra laughed. “Well, nice to officially meet you, Chip.” 

Chip happily trilled his tongue at Asra. Then he accepted another tasty namesake treat. 

“So what do you say, Chip?” said Meleia. “You want to help us make some tea? After Asra cleans your wood pile, of course.” 

Chip chirped in agreement. He crawled right into Meleia’s hands. He settled there, curling up, munching on his treat. Meleia smiled. He was pleasantly warm, and it tickled a bit whenever he flicked out his tongue for another wood chip. 

Meleia pulled Chip out of the stove. Asra beamed at the both of them. He was so enamored with the scene that it took a solid three seconds of Meleia giving him a very pointed look before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He cleared his throat awkwardly and dusted out the grate. Chip watched him carefully, making Meleia giggle.

“What?” Asra asked, grinning. 

“Chip’s just making sure you do it right,” said Meleia. 

Asra chuckled. “Well, I hope I meet his approval.” He finished up his work and pulled back. “Well, Chip? How does it look?”

Meleia carried Chip close to his wood pile. Chip looked all around, making sure it looked perfect. At last, he was satisfied. He hopped from Meleia’s hands and settled back in. In moments, the stove was lit. Asra gently closed the grate. 

“What kind of tea do you want, Meleia?” he asked. 

“Surprise me,” said Meleia. 

“Oh?” Asra chuckled. “You still have room for more surprises after Chip declared he needed a name?” 

Meleia fondly wrapped her arms around him. “Whether I do or not, you always find a way to surprise me, anyway.” 

Asra’s smile was warm. He leaned in closer. Neither of them were quite sure who started the kiss, but it was a sweet one nonetheless. 

_Ew,_ said Forge.

Asra and Meleia pulled apart. “Well, look who’s finally awake,” Asra chuckled. 

Forge wagged his tail. _Breakfast?_

“Soon, Forge,” said Meleia. She hadn’t quite let go of Asra yet. “We’re running a little late. Asra forgot to clean Chip’s wood pile.” 

Forge cocked his head. _Chip?_

“The stove salamander,” Asra explained. “He has officially been named Chip.” 

_Good!_ Forge’s tail wagged harder than before. _Like name._

“Chip does, too,” said Meleia. 

The kettle whistled, interrupting their conversation. Asra shot Meleia his signature magician smile. 

“Time to get that surprise tea ready,” he said. 

He unwound himself from Meleia’s embrace and went over to their collection of tea leaves. Meleia watched him with a smile. He glanced at her over his shoulder. 

“Come on, no peeking,” he laughed.

“Oh, fine,” Meleia snickered. “I’ll get the _rest_ of breakfast ready, then.” 

The two of them bustled about the small kitchen, chatting amicably all the while. Meleia had the feeling that Asra was going to tell absolutely everyone who came to the shop that day about Chip’s new name. She didn’t mind. All it meant was that their little family had grown that much closer. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I loved the idea of a sulky salamander, wondered what he might be sulky about, and this was born! 
> 
> HUGE thank you for the official Arcana Game tumblr for sharing this story as well!


End file.
